a visit to the Maritime Museum in Barcelona

We visited the Maritime Museum today in Barcelona. They have a great deal of emphasis on the Catalan contributions to seafaring (even downplaying Columbus and the whole “sailed the ocean blue in 1492) and it largely started in the 1500s, which seems kind of late. They have an amazing replica of a galley (do they mean galleon?), which was quite a flat ship, with countless oarmen (read: slaves), sails that encompassed 700 square meters of fabric and a fancy housing on the stern, where the illegitimate son of the King hung out during the battles, with fine herringbone floors and elaborate paintings on the sides. It had a weird Oriental feel (I realize we shouldn’t use Oriental anymore as a word, but honestly, it was that).

I quite liked some of the decoration on it – like cranes painted on the side and in relief, to signify a metaphor for the Captain, who must be alert night and day. There was also a painting of Diana, which also symbolized the Captain, who is full of understanding and reason and the dog accompanying her, that symbolizes the senses and obedience, of the crew, naturally. These are definitely elements I can use in the story.

On the back of the galley there was a golden Medusa head, which was believed to have magical powers and strike terror into anyone who saw it. On the front, was the most amazing Neptune figurehead, symbolizing dominion over the sea. These are definitely ideas I can use.

Other ideas from the museum, were various maps and books kept by captains and aspiring sailors, featuring sketches of landscapes, maps, and bits of gear on board, including some that remind me of some of the things I’ve done for the Inspired by Place eCourse. I wished there was more of that sort of thing and that they had some posters or at least postcards of the maps for sale, but alas, they did not.

The museum itself was a lovely building that was almost Danish in its skillful combination of new and old. In the last bit, which was aimed at children, there were some cool animated illustrations of various legends of the sea – mermaids, Leviathan, the Kraken, and sea monsters. Much inspiration there and I even stood and took some videos to remind me. I’ll have to do research into the those – everything always leads to more reading. And some of it was Biblical, which keeps popping up as well.

 I had hoped for more inspiration in the ships themselves, but alas, they were very focused on Barcelona-built ships, which were very different from the Dutch ships in our story. They played up their conquest of the Americas and there was nothing about the routes around the Cape to India and Java. This undoubtedly makes sense, as the museum is in Barcelona, but it wasn’t really what I was looking for.

Other things I learned, which are useful: the sextant was used to calculate latitude and the chronometer to calculate longitude. The items they had on board to trade – cotton, tobacco, sugar, slaves, “undeclared goods” or contraband. There were some very cool chests that had been used to carry goods, which I can use in the story. No talk of spices or even coffee, though the cocoa beans were mentioned, in this museum, and those were undoubtedly major items for the VOC.

I’ve been thinking about the figurehead on "our" ship. Weirdly, when I got home to the apt., I tried to Google what the Berbices ship looked like and I got no results for that ship. I asked Lynne and Judith if they had seen it and Lynne immediately came back with results, searching on the same terms I did! I wonder if Spain didn’t want me to access VOC ships when they are trying to sell me on their maritime heritage. That would be kind of funny and what else explains it? Just the vagaries of the algorithm.

There’s always more research to do and more to read to improve my writing and the story. It’s all part of the process and I’m very much finally truly enjoying it as I go along.

there's a knocking in my brain...

I've spent the day today working on everything except the novel, but I'm finding that Abraham and Darius - one of the slaves who worked for him in the pottery - are taking up headspace. Rattling around and knocking and demanding to be heard.
Right now I am struggling to hear their words, but I can see them very clearly.

It is early morning. The mountain is covered in mist, reaching about halfway down, with just occasional glimpses of the top peeking through.

The weather has been warm for the past few days, but today the mist has brought a crisp coldness and a promise that winter is not far away.

Abraham's house is uphill from the pottery, with a view of the Company's garden below and Table Mountain and Lion's Head to the right and behind him.

silver tree. It is the only tree that grows naturally in the City Bowl. It is a member of the protea family

the house is not as grand as this, but this is what the garden looks like

The house is on the outskirts of the town. There are silver trees  in the garden, and Abraham has planted some oaks for shade.

The silver trees look their best in this weather - leaves shimmering in the soft light.

The spring, with its clean, sweet water, emerges just below the house into a natural pool

Abraham and his men have built a leiwater channel which feeds water to the pottery when the sluice is lifted. The rest of the water is channelled down through the Company's Garden and into the Heerengracht.

I think that the houses where the slaves lived and where the pottery is made look more like these. This is the Genadendal mission station that was established in 1738.

Captain van Dijk's diary

Captain Wouter van Dijk has a small shelf in his cabin. On it is a small selection of books. The most important book on the shelf is is a kind of diary he's kept for all his years of sailing, when he was on board the XXX in 17XX. This is his first voyage on the Berbices, but he has sailed the long trip around the Cape to Java before. In the diary, he notes down things that happen along the journey, as well as doing small drawings.* He harbors a secret artist/scientist inside himself and he sketches the plants and animals he sees along the way, carefully noting where and when he sees them and their size and appearance. But he also notes the everyday things from the voyage, when they passed another ship, storms they encounter. These he notes in the ship's logbook as well, but here, in his diary, they are more personal. He writes about those at home – his wife, daughters and yes, his mistress - who he misses and he does the odd sketch of them to comfort himself on the long journey. Also on the shelf, there are two other books (MUST DO SOME RESEARCH TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THESE BOOKS ARE) that.....

*NOTE: This book will later find its way into Lumka's treasure box, back in Copenhagen.

There are many legends at sea - the meeting with Neptune upon passing the equator, the ravages of the doldrums if they drift too far west at the wrong time of year. The albatross is another legend - the giant bird brings with it the omen of favorable winds, but if you kill the albatross, calamity will befall your ship and all your men. Captain van Dijk would severely punish anyone who shot an albatross. And of course, the Flying Dutchman, the legendary ghost ship captained by Barend Fokke, which was lost in a storm at the Cape, a century before him. Fokke was known as the Flying Dutchman for the speed with which he could make the trip to Java and back. They say he sailed with full sails, oblivious of the wind and weather and he could sail between Batavia and Holland in just 90 days, doing a round trip in only eight months! Many said he was in league with the devil for this feat and he was known for his devilish looks and stature. It’s said that the devil finally came calling to collect his soul, and Fokke and his ship were lost at the Cape, trying to enter Table Bay. To this day, she drifts on her own on the seas, sails in tatters, her crew of ghosts, bewitching the crews of other ships who see her glowing on the horizon.

These were busy days in Amsterdam, as the ship was made ready for her next voyage to Java. Stores were being taken on board and lashed in place in all the nooks and crannies of the ship and on deck. He was selecting his crew and signing them on. There were many soldiers, as well as experienced mates, cooks, a boatswain, a quartermaster, everyone he would need for the long voyage. He took on men he could trust, whom he had sailed with before. But he also took on new, young sailors who had never been on such a voyage. They would find their sea legs soon enough. He would lose some of them along the way, it was just the way it was, not everyone made it, the voyage was not for the faint of heart. They were setting sail in August, high summer in the Netherlands and it would be summer in the southern hemisphere when they reached the Cape, their halfway point, in November. They should be in Batavia by April. There, they would load the ship with spices and coffee and tea, which were the gold of this age, making him and the Dutch East India Company rich, and sail back for Amsterdam.

 **RESEARCH NEEDED – Need to look into what books would have been published and in fashion in 1723. When did the Enlightenment start? Would he have taken Voltaire with him? What about scientific books? I want him to be learned, thoughtful, a man of science, as well as an adventurer. But were the captains of ships of this class? Would it be highly unusual if he was interested in science and cataloging plants and animals ala Lewis & Clark, who came later? 

Reading the chapter on the Flying Dutchman in Myths, Stories, and Organizations (ed. Yiannis Gabriel) who suggests the legend is a symbol of two eras meeting in transition. He’s talking more about when the legend was written down, at the beginning of the nineteenth century (by Heine in 1831), but it could also have been so when it came about…the era of exploration, the first big multinational, the VOC, the trade routes between Europe and India/Java. The damned captain of the ship “is above all the sign and symbol of an emerging era, situated between utopian romantic social dreams, the restoration, the dawn of national states, and enlightened demystification.” (Peter Pelzer, p. 141)

When was the start of modernity?

Some thoughts on Captain Wouter van Dijk

This month, on 750 words, I am devoting at least some of my 750 words to our novel. I've proven I can write on a daily basis about all the nonsense in my head, so let's see if I can write something useful. Well, useful to our novel. I hate to say that writing what's in my head isn't useful, as it's very useful to me and my well-being.

Yesterday, I did a bit of research on the NL Archives VOC site, to get real names of people who sailed with Lumke. It's this cast of characters that I'd like to write about this month:

• Pieter Maillij, Antwerp, assistant to the constable on board the Berbices
• Arij Jansz Lint, Christiaansand, experienced sailor/cannon firer on board the Berbices - also listed as a woodsman
• Cornelis Michielsz, Abenrade, experienced sailor/cannon operator on board the Berbices - also listed as a woodsman
• Jan Peter Werner - soldier on board the Berbices
• Booij Said, second mate on board the Berbices
• Henrick van Alderwaerelt, Amsterdam - sergeant, in charge of the soldiers on board the Berbices -taken on board in November 1723
• Johan Balthazart Alt - soldier - on board the Berbices
• Arent van Wijk - “hoop loper” - helper to the mate, on board the Berbices
• Leendert Havelier, Amsterdam, First officer, resp. For medical care on board the Berbices, taken on board November 1723
• Claes Bartelsz - soldier on board the Berbices
• Frederik Voogt, Slesingen - soldier on board the Berbices
• Jan Jurgen Propst, Frankfurt - soldier on board the Berbices
• Joannes Spillenaar, Bommel, - bottlier “bottler” - on board the Berbices, responsible for all food and drink
• Jan de Groot, helper of the Constable, on board the Berbices, disembarks in the Cape Colony.
• Bonaventura Verkruissen, Den oudenburgh, experienced mate, fires the cannon - also listed as a woodsman
• Frans de Graeff, Nimwegen, Quartermaster on board the Berbices “direct control of groups of men, distribution of hot food and law enforcement during the planning”
• Captain Wouter van Dijk - Berbices (1723-25) Sailed the return voyage too

I learned that there are an awful lot of soldiers on board such ships. I don't know why I didn't realize that. I also managed to find the name of the Captain who Lumke sailed with - Wouter van Dijk. I had stumbled across the name of another captain on another site, but he was captain on an earlier voyage, not on Lumke's voyage. I'm excited to see what these guys get up to, as they come out my fingers. I just did a selection of the real crew members, trying to choose names that sounded interesting or people who were from certain places - like a guy from Frankfurt, to maybe establish some kind of imagined connection to Abraham. I am looking forward to letting this cast of characters speak through me. Curiously, all of those experienced mates who have a secondary job of firing the cannons, are listed as "woodsmen" or in Dutch: Bosschieter which Google translate tells me is a woodsman. Why would they be good at firing cannons, I wonder?

I have a picture of Wouter van Dijk in my head. It's currently unspoiled by research into what such captains wore or looked like, but probably spoiled by too many Pirates of the Caribbean films. I see him in a fancy uniform, plenty of gold buttons on his chest and a wide, trekroner (hmm, that's Danish, I never thought about that) hat with a feather. His hair is longish and he has a beard. He's neither young nor old, has a commanding presence, shouting orders, commanding respect. I see him in tall leather boots, a kind of jodpur pant tucked into them. I don't know if he wore the full uniform at sea, but I imagine that he wore it in port and when things got a bit hairy or they encountered another ship at sea. But maybe his fancy jacket mostly was slung over a chair in his cabin.

His cabin was, of course, the largest on board, but that didn't mean it was all that large. It contained his bunk, with proper mattress, sheets and pillows, plus a table and a couple of chairs and a cupboard for his clothes and things. It is dark, but one of the few that had a small round porthole window, so during the day, it was lighter. There are brass lamp fittings on the wall, and another affixed to the table, but that one is more of a candle stick, where as the ones on the wall are oil lamps with a wick and chimney. He can spread maps and charts out on his table and he has the instruments of a sailor - sextant and a spyglass to look through, both in brass. He is experienced, this isn't his first voyage. He can look at the stars in the night sky and know where they are.